Mad World
by Misbegotten Misfit
Summary: Its been 3 years and Zim and Dib are entering their sophmore year. Zim's become popular in school while Dib is still regarded as an insane freak. The last day 0f freshman year Zita had a summer party and everybody was invited except for Dib. Zim got attacked on the way home from the party and he's come back after summer with a new look and a darker outlook on life.
1. School's Out

**Author's Note: Well, i've finally f0und a title f0r this crappy st0ry s0 n0w i can p0st it and watch y0ur eyes bleed trying t0 read it because 0f h0w h0rrible it is. The title is actually a reference t0 the tears f0r fears s0ng "mad w0rld". the name 0f this chapter is a reference t0 the alice c00per s0ng "sch00l's 0ut". there are a c0uple m0re s0ng references in this chapter. i bet y0u can't tell me what the s0ngs are and which bands they're fr0m!**

**There's an 0C in this chapter but after this y0u'll never see him again because i hate him. he's a jerk. we already start 0ff this chapter with s0me shipping, but they're min0r characters. Zita x Jessica. Eventually there'll be ZADF that will develope int0 ZADR. n0 smut. there'll be s0me 0ne sided ZATR. maybe s0me one sided PRAZR. pr0bably RAPR. n0 OC x can0n! maybe s0me 0ther ships but i haven't decided yet. ENJ0Y!**

* * *

It was the last day of freshman year and the eighth hour bell had just rung, indicating that school was over. Ordinarily everybody would be rushing out of the building to get on with their summer break, but today the students lingered at their lockers because Zita had said that she'd be handing out invites to her big summer party after school. Zita was a relatively popular girl on her own, but her popularity went through the roof when she started dating Jessica, who was the most popular girl in school. Needlessly to say, everybody who was anybody would be at that party and not being invited meant that you'd be a social outcast.

Zita handed out white envelopes to students as she walked past their lockers until she came to one that had no student at it pretending to look through their things. She looked around for the person she knew the locker belonged to and after glancing in several directions she spotted a familiar head of black hair as the person walked down the hall toward the exit.

"Hey! Hey wait!" she called as she ran after him.

Zita smiled when she caught up to him, "Zim!"

The boy turned his attention to her, a look on his face that say he had no clue she's been calling for him, and asked, "Hmm?"

She smiled and held a white envelope out to him, "Zim, here."

He raised an eyebrow at the envelope and asked, "What is it?"

"Its an invitation. I want you to come to my party tonight! I know its not usually your thing but I'd really like it if you came." Zita gave Zim a big, warm smile.

Zim glanced around, avoiding looking at the lavender-haired girl's smiling face.

"ehhhh... Sure. Whatever." The green boy said, plucking the envelope from her fingers then quickly heading out the doors.

* * *

"Computer. Give me all the information you have on human parties." Zim demanded, entering his base and taking off his disguise.

"Why?" The computer asked, confused.

Zim rolled his magenta eyes and said, "_Because_ I'm going to one tonight! If I want to blend in I need to know what these _filthy_ HYOOMANS actually do at these 'parties'."

"Oh." Came the response, a pause, then "A party is a large gathering of humans meant for socializing, drinking, spastic behavior, and general idiocy."

Zim cringed, "That sounds horrifying..."

"Are you sure about this, sir?" The computer asked its master as the Irken took an elevator up to the top level of his how to change into another outfit. He randomly pulled some clothes out and changed. It didn't matter what he grabbed because all of his clothes were the same. It was his Invader's uniform and he wore it with pride.

"I'm sure there's _nothing to worry about._" Zim smirked and dismissed the computer's concerns with a wave of his gloved hand.

* * *

Dib sat on the couch in his living room watching re-runs of his favorite show, Mysterious Mysteries. The show itself had been canceled about a year ago but they still played old episodes because they hadn't found something to replace the time slot.

Why wasn't he getting ready for Zita's Summer Party, you ask? - it's because he wasn't invited. Zim eventually became popular because his behavior had an excuse: He's "foreign", and foreigners were exotic and considered "hot" in high school. Dib, on the other hand, had lived in this town his entire life and a lifetime's obsessing over anything paranormal got him labeled a freak for life. The incident freshman year didn't help improve his social standing much either.

The teens at school didn't want to be caught dead with him let alone invite him to _the_ party of the summer. So now he was stuck at home watching repeats. He couldn't even participate in his nightly activity of spying on Zim because the alien was going to the party he wasn't invited to.

"I didn't even want to go to that stupid party." he huffed to himself, "I'd just show up and somebody would throw fruit punch in my face or something."

He crossed his arms over his chest and glared at the memories of his childhood. Years of torture and ridicule passed through his mind. Nobody believed anything he said even when the proof was right in front of their faces.

Back then the torment from his peers was mostly verbal and left emotional scars. Sure there were a few times he got shoved or had his lunch tray shoved in his face, but those occasions were few and far between. He had only ever had actual fights with Zim. Now that he was in high school that changed. Chuck was six feet tall and built like linebacker and Dib was his favorite pass time. Torque Smackey made up for his lack of brains with his muscles and treated the paranormal investigator like a punching bag. The two of them smacked Dib around on a daily basis whether it was swirlies, stealing his homework, throwing his books in the mud, or just plain beating him up.

Surprisingly enough, Zim had backed off a bit. When the other kids started to hurt Dib he found that physical fights with Zim occurred less and less often. He's even caught the green boy looking on to the beatings with disgust at times. Of course, that didn't mean they weren't still enemies. They shouted and cursed and made threats at one another. Dib still spied on Zim every night and Zim still tried to destroy the Earth.

Unfortunately it was a little more complicated now. They'd both been outsiders before but now people actually _liked_ Zim, so whenever he accused the other of being an alien he'd receive angry responses from his classmates and sometimes random objects thrown at his head.

"Ugh! Don't they realize that they're protecting an alien?!" He said, thinking out loud. Of course it was a rhetorical question, but an answer came to him anyway in the angry voice of his sister.

"Of course not, Dib! People are stupid! Now SHUT UP!" Gaz growled and glared at him.

If looks could kill then lasers would have shot from her eyes and melted his giant head. Thankfully, they couldn't and his head was safe. He turned around to see her in a short strapless black dress with her signature skull necklace securely fastened around her neck and a black headband holding her shoulder-length purple hair away from her ears, which held earrings in the shape of her skull necklace. Fingerless grey and black striped gloves adorned her palms and wrists with a few black bracelets. A pair of purple and black striped stockings came up to just above her knees and she was sliding on a pair of black combat boots.

"Where are you going?" Dib asked his younger sister.

She snorted, "Zita's party."

The tone of her voice said that she thought the answer was obvious and it annoyed her to have to actually say it.

"What?! But you don't even go to my school!" Dib said in outrage and shock.

She shrugged and he said, "Gaz, you're too young to go to a party!"

"I'm only a year younger than everybody else there, _Dib_." Gaz's left eye twitched in rage and she spat his name.

Dib was quiet for a while and she finished tying her boots. She grabbed her black bag with a skull on it from upstairs in her room then slung the long strap over her shoulder. Dib turned to her as she headed for the door.

"Hey... uh... can I come with you?" He asked.

She paused and looked at him with an expressionless face then said, "No." and walked out.

* * *

A dark figure sat atop a hill and gazed down at the crowd of people entering a fairly large house that was pulsating with music and shifting light colors. The side of the figure's mouth twitched up in a small smirk as he observed the teens closely.

"There's a party goin' on right here. A celebration to last throughout the years..." he sung to himself and giggled a little, "So bring your good times and your laughter too..."

He trailed off when he spotted the last teenager to enter the building, momentarily distracted. The kid was dressed in pink and black and had black hair. The most curious thing about him was his green skin.

The figure grinned and thought, _looks like I found my next target_.

He stood up, his long black coat swished behind him with it's tattered edges. He placed his hands behind his back and began down the hill toward the house, singing quietly to himself, "We're gonna celebrate your party with you..."

* * *

Zim walked into Zita's house and was immediately hit by the scent of humans and alcohol. A wave of nausea passed over him. In the three years he'd been on Earth he'd never been to a party. He'd been asked to several school dances and loudly denied. What reason did he have to go to some stupid human event with some stupid smelly human?

He stood at the entrance of the house and debated with himself on whether he should turn back and leave or not. _An Invader fears nothing... but this could be hazardous to my health._ He thought.

Unfortunately, before he could follow through with his strategic retreat Zita notice him from where she was making out with Jessica on the couch and came over to him. The lavender-haired girl took him by the wrist and lead him over to the couch. Jessica threw her arm over Zita's shoulder and smiled at Zim.

"I'm glad you could make it, Zim!" Zita said joyfully.

"I'm surprised you came," Jessica said, "but it's nice to have you here. What do you think of the party?"

"There are more people here than I expected." Zim noted, propping up his elbow on the arm of the couch and resting his cheek on his knuckles.

"The whole school." was Jessica's pleased response.

This prompted the green boy's mouth to form a tight frown and cast his eyes to look out a window. He snorted the question, "Dib?"

"Pfft! No way! Why would we want _him_ at the party? He'd probably rant about vampires the whole time!" Jessica laughed at her own cruel joke. Zita giggled.

Nobody heard a figure in the corner of the room choke on his punch at the mention of vampires.

As the laughter died away Tae flopped down in the chair next the the couch.

"Hey, man. Good to see you decided to show!" he said by way of a greeting to Zim.

Zim nodded to him as a hello, the smell of people still making him nauseous.

Tae tossed him an aluminum can and said, "Here, bro."

Zim gave him a questioning look and asked, "What's this?"

The blue-haired boy chuckled and explained, "Beer. Just try it. You'll like it."

"Hmm." Zim thought about trying to human drink for a moment. Making his decision, he popped open the tab on the can and stuck a straw in it that he had stored in his PAK so that the liquid wouldn't come in contact with his skin.

Zita giggled, "That's so cute. The way you always stick a straw in your drink."

She picked up her own beer that had been sitting on the coffee table and took a sick then proceeded to make out with Jessica again.

Zim cringed at the display and thought, _Why are they trying to eat each other?!_

He looked away and took a tentative sip of the beer through the straw. Then he gagged. _This tastes terrible! Stupid filthy human drink!_

Suddenly his mind got foggy and the room blurred slightly. He ran a hand through his hair and sat the disgusting can of fluid on the coffee table. He squeezed his eyes shut hard in hopes that it would clear his vision, but when he forced them open again nothing had changed. He stood up shakily and slurred, "I...I neesh shum air..." (geez. _S0meb0dy_ can't h0ld their alc0h0l!)

Zim headed for the door and stepped out into the cool night. His head cleared a little with the change in temperature. It had been so hot and stuffy in the house with all the teens packed into it, dancing and chatting. He looked up at the sky, at the stars, and gazed in the direction of Irk. Despite the fact that that's where his life began he hadn't actually spent much time there, only long enough to finish his training and then his life had been in space on one ship or another. Now he'd spend three years on a planet and it felt so strange. Shortly after his life was moved to a ship he'd stopped growing. Zim had always assumed that it was because his PAK was only programmed to allow his body to reach a certain height, but in the time he'd been on Earth his body started growing again, slowly. He'd went from being four foot nine when he landed to currently being five foot two. Strange...

A hand on his shoulder shook him from his thoughts and he whipped around, glaring at the figure. A man with chin-length copper hair and extremely pale skin put his hands up in front of him defensively and took a step back, his long black coat with tattered edges swishing as he did.

"Sorry. I didn't mean to startle you." he apologized.

"What do you want?" Zim growled, glowering at him.

The guy shrugged and said, "I saw you leave. You weren't looking too good so I thought I'd make sure you're alright."

Zim's anger slipped and he turn his gaze to the ground, "Oh."

There was a long moment of awkward silence before Zim cleared his throat and spoke, his voice and mannerisms confident and arrogant, "Well! I- I must be getting home!"

He took a few steps and found that he couldn't walk straight. The guy gently grabbed his arm and said calmly, "Here. I'll help. Just lead the way."

A sudden sense of calm washed over Zim and he just nodded, letting the man half-walk, half-carry him towards his base.

* * *

By the time that Zim came to his senses the two of them were only a block or two away from Zim's base. The ginger next to him had a far away look in his eyes and he was singing quietly to himself.

"...too late to beg you or cancel it, though I know it must be the killing time..."

Zim quickly pulled away from the stranger and stared up at him with wide eyes. The man snapped from his thought at looked down at Zim, wondering what had happened.

"What? Is something wrong?" the black clad stranger asked the green boy, frowning.

Fear constricted Zim's throat, but he wasn't sure why. Then it struck him. The look in the man's eyes. There was a deep insatiable hunger in those eyes that put the Invader on edge. It had been there the whole time and he hadn't noticed.

"I can get home by myself from here." Zim said firmly and started to walk down the sidewalk. He was about to break into a run when a strong hand grabbed his wrist.

"Unhand me! I am ZIM!" the alien shouted defiantly and turned the evil eye on the man.

That was his mistake. When he made eye contact with those mischievous red eyes he felt all will to fight drain from his body and that familiar calm from earlier wash over him once more. The man grinned and Zim barely registered the two sharp teeth in his mouth. The stranger dragged him into the alleyway between two buildings and shoved him up against the hard brick wall. Zim's body was so numb he couldn't even feel the pain as the man buried his teeth in the green boy's neck. It was strange. Zim felt the life draining out of him. He was going to die and his body refused to move to do anything about it. Even his PAK wasn't responding.

The man removed his teeth to comment, "Whoa... You taste... sweet..." then bit down again. The pale stranger's eyes began to glaze over as he lost himself in his meal.

Zim felt the numbness ease some and he regained some ability to move, but not much. Not enough to make a difference. His mind went into a panic as his life slipped away. In a desperate effort to save himself he acted on instinct and bit the man's arm, which was pressed against the wall near Zim's head. This startled the guy enough for him to jump back in shock, ripping his arm out of Zim's mouth in the process. The green alien tasted something coppery and wet and knew the the sudden jump caused the bite to draw blood. He'd have to scrub that awful taste out later if he survived this fight.

The man looked with wide eyes and his wound, then at Zim, then back to his injured arm. Then the unexpected happened. He ran away. Zim watched him go with a smirk. _V-victory... for Zim..._ he thought weakly before his legs gave out and he slid down the wall.

The communication extension came out of his pack and he clutched it in his trembling fingers.

"G-Gir...Gir...c-c-come and g-et me..." he managed to whisper into the communicator. The the world turned black and he passed out from the pain.

* * *

**AN: thank the g0ds that its finally 0ver! well, actually its n0t. this is just the first chapter! wanna hear a secret? this entire first chapter is actually... the PR0L0GUE! i knew that the 0nly way anyb0dy w0uld read the pr0l0gue is if i disguised it as a chapter. it sets everything up s0 its imp0rtant. have y0u figured 0ut th0se s0ng references? let me kn0w when y0u d0! and c0me back f0r the next awful chapter when i decide t0 p0st it. its already d0ne i just d0ne feel like p0sting it yet.**


	2. The Ballad of Dwight Fry

**n0t as l0ng as the last 0ne, but its still imp0rtant. 0n a side n0te: i really need t0 st0p with the alice c00per references...**

* * *

Last year's freshman filed into the building and chatted with their friends about what might happen in this new year. Dib and Gaz entered the building and went straight to the tables where schedules were being handed out. Dib had no friends to stop and chat with and he wanted to get to class before his bullies arrived and administered his first beating of the year, equivalent to all the beatings he'd missed over the summer combined. It wasn't that he was weak and couldn't defend himself. That wasn't it at all. Should he remove his jacket you'd be able to see the lean muscles of his arms and if he were to remove his t-shirt you's see toned abs. He wasn't weak in any sense of the word. Even so, the bullies were twice as strong as he was and they would pulverize him.

Gaz was a freshman this year. The two got to the tables and she was ushered off to the freshman orientation by a teacher. Dib looked at his schedule and locker number. He was about to head to class when the lady at the table spoke to him.

"Dib Membrane?"

He looked up from his paper at her, "Yeah?"

"The school councilor would like to see you." she told him. He nodded and went to the office to find out what this was about.

The councilor's off was actually a room that was connected to the main office, which was actually and room that branched off into other rooms. As you entered the doors there was a secretary at a desk to your left, a small waiting area to your right, and several doors on front of you that lead to the various offices with their names on plaques above the door. The secretary didn't even look up as Dib entered and walked in the door with the plaque reading "School Councilor".

The councilor was actually somebody that Dib knew, Gaz's old teacher, Mr. Elliot. Dib hadn't spoken to the man much during the year Gaz was in his class and he didn't really know him, but from the few times he'd seen Mr. Elliot he'd seemed like a nice guy. The blond teacher had taken the job of councilor at the end of last year when the last one quit.

Dib walked into to bright room and took a seat in front of the desk.

"Well, hello, Dib!" Mr. Elliot greeted him happily.

"Yeah. Hey." Dib responded unenthusiastically. He wasn't angry or anything, he just wasn't happy to be in skool and it show in his expression and voice, "So... Why did you want to see me?"

Mr. Elliot gave him a sad look and said, "I wanted to talk about a few things."

"Like what?" Dib asked, raising a eyebrow.

"I would like to see how you're getting along at school, with the other students." the man said, but the tone of his voice said that this was only a prelude to what he was actually aiming to discuss.

Dib crossed his arms over his chest and furrowed his brow at the mention of the other teens. He snorted, "Terribly. They all think I'm weird and crazy. I'm not crazy!"

That had come out sounding a little defensive, but it wasn't intended to.

"I see..." He said, then he cleared his throat and began cautiously, "How are you getting along with Zim?"

The black haired teen raised a quizzical eyebrow and asked, "...Why?"

Elliot coughed into his fist and chose his words carefully before continuing, "Dib... We've received a few reports of you stalking Zim. Several students said that they've seen you standing outside his home and taking photos through the windows."

"What?! What students?!" Dib asked in surprise and shock, and some anger.

"I can't tell you that, Dib." He said, "Please. We're all just concerned about you, Dib. We only want to look out for your safety and well-being. Let's talk about this so that I can try to help."

Dib crossed his arms over his chest and tun his gaze away. Help? HELP? Mr. Elliot wanted to HELP him?! He knew exactly what he'd been implying by that and had no desire for a weekly therapy session with the school councilor. He wasn't crazy! What he _needed _was for somebody to actually believe him for once and the kind of _help_ he needed was help getting Zim to a lab to be autopsied!

"Dib..." The genuine concern in Mr. Elliot's voice pulled him from his mental ranting.

He was probably going to regret it but he groaned and said, "Fine."

"Thank you. Now let's talk."

"What do you want to talk about?" Dib asked as if he didn't know.

Mr. Elliot avoided his gaze like the question he was about to ask might cause an outburst from Dib.

"Let's start with why you've bee stalking Zim. Dib, do you... like him?"

"What?!" Dib's eyes went as wide as dinner plates and he almost choked. That wasn't what he'd expected at all.

Elliot tried to calm Dib down, saying, "It's alright if you do, Dib. I'm not going to judge you."

Dib shook his head frantically, "You have it all wrong! I don't like Zim! I hate him!"

"Oh..." was the only response his frantic denials was given. Mr. Elliot seemed confused and was quiet as he contemplated this new information.

Eventually he spoke, "I see... Then why do you stalk him?"

"He's my worst enemy! Zim's an alien! An ALIEN! He wants to take over the Earth and I always have to be one step ahead so I can stop him!" Dib shot up, knocking over his chair and throwing his arm up in frustration.

Elliot looked shocked. The boiling in Dib's blood fizzled out and he crossed his arms over his chest, turning away.

"But you think I'm insane like everybody else..."

The man sighed, "I don't think you're insane, Dib. I just think you're confused."

Dib furrowed his brow and Elliot continued, "Let's pick this up next week. It'll give you some time to think about things."

Dib picked up his backpack, which he'd dropped to the floor when he'd knocked over his chair, and stormed out of the room without a word. He was seething.

_CONFUSED?! I'm not the one that's confused! It's everybody else on this damn planet! They're all blind idiots!_ His thoughts shouted angrily, none of his rage being voiced.

The scythe haired boy stomped down the hall until he realized that it was empty and everybody was in class. He had no idea were he was even going. As he pulled his schedule from his pocket to find what class he had he spotted a black clap figure walk through the front doors.

The person wore a long black jacket that came down to his knees with a hood that oddly came to a long point at the back, a black shirt, a pair of black skinny jeans, and some black boots. The hood was up and pulled down to cover half of the teen's face, leaving Dib to question who this mysterious person was.

In a moment he got his answer.

The person had his head down staring at the floor, but as he walked past Dib he turned a cold glare on him. A familiar cold glare. One he'd recognize anywhere.


End file.
